We blessed Crew this last Sunday. He wore the same little blessing outfit his daddy wore almost 25 years ago. Grandma Merrell crocheted the beautiful white afghan for him.

It has been on our minds all week what kinds of things we want and hope for our sweet little boy. As a parent, you of course dream of the wonderful things your child will do and the man he will someday become. It's a little intimidating to think that the responsibility of teaching him everything he needs to know rests on our shoulders. It is reassuring to know we have a loving Father in Heaven who loves us the same sort of way and only wants what's best for us.

Lance gave a beautiful blessing. Afterward, we headed to our place for visiting and a BBQ. It was quite the event and such a lovely day. It was the largest party I've ever hosted and I was a little nervous but it ended up being great with about 65 people here!

My beautiful Trishy!

YUM! The dessert table.

Crew with his uncle Jake.

Avonlea loves her cousin Crew and is constantly giving him kisses and loves.

Even Mark and Tiff made it up from Cedar City. Thank you to all our friends and family who traveled to be there!

Sleepy little one in Mitch's arms. Yes, that is a heart binky (much to Lance's dismay).

Aunt Chris and cousin Andy

We got a group shot at the very end after almost half of everyone had gone home.

Mom's hair started falling out in handfulls. And instead of letting it fall out all on it's own, she insisted on having a head shaving party. YUP. You read it right. A party... and a party it was!

Dad made a mountain of crepes with berries and powdered sugar...

And Kayshia Dawn made mom's favorite cake, german chocolate.

Everyone gathered in mom and dad's kitchen for dinner much like we do for birthdays.

And then the cutting began...

There were a few tears. But mostly just laughter and giggling.

We left the mullet and bangs for last on purpose. It's a good look for her.

Have you ever seen a woman quite so happy about shaving her head?

We love you so so much mom. Thank you for your sense of humor, for your laughter and endless love. For your ability to focus on everyone else when you are the one going through surgery, chemotherapy, and sickness. Thank you for your love and support, your eternal optimism, and for your ability to make everyone feel just about as loved as one can feel.

Remember the post about snowshoeing when I was 7 months pregnant? Well that fun cabin is where we spent the night last weekend. Joe and Camille were celebrating their recent graduation from BYU and...

their new little one who is on the way!! We couldn't be happier for them.

Camille's cute little sisters and her dad who couldn't get enough of Crew. Look how cute his outfit is!

The whole gang. We stayed up really late laughing our heads off and playing games... of course.

I couldn't resist a picture! Look at that cute cuddly baby.

I was a little paranoid about the spiders getting Crew in the middle of the night. It didn't help that I found a HUGE one in this room just before we put him down. I heard him fussing in the middle of the night and thought, "Oh no! There's a huge spider on his face!" Then I calmed myself down and told myself I was being ridiculous. But he kept fussing so I flipped on the light only to find...

a cricket crawling on him!! I about peed my pants.

Blue Steel

Big yawns!

This pictures cracks me up! Yes, I know we look lovely. But we took the picture and didn't realize till after that Crew was cheesing it for the camera. He is already quite the performer!